I’m not gonna lie, this evening didn’t have the best start for me. After getting my daughter into bed I jumped in a taxi to Yes, Manchester, only to find a handwritten note stuck to the door which said ‘The Du Blonde gig will now take place at The White Hotel. Please contact us with any questions.’ As the gig was due to start 2 minutes later, and The White Hotel is in Salford, I didn’t really have time to drop an email to Yes asking why the fuck nobody had thought to tell me, so I jumped in taxi number 2. I arrived in the bar just in time to hear the singer from support act bigfatbig say ‘We’re just glad you’re all here, we worried you would all end up at the wrong place.’ I considered asking for them to pay for my Uber.
Once I’d calmed down, I reflected that, actually, it appeared something had happened at Yes and all concerned had done a miraculous job to keep this gig going at all. And I’m glad they did. Bigfatbig were as loud and energetic as their name suggests, with songs about hating your job and/or loving life, raucous guitars, and, very randomly, a pretty good Sheryl Crow cover.
They returned later as Du Blonde’s band. It’s been a long time since I first heard her 2019 album Lung Bread For Daddy, and I’ve been keen to see her ever since. In none of my imaginings of her set did I envisage her coming onto the stage while Ronan Keating sang ‘You Say It Best When You Say Nothing at All’ through the speakers, but that’s what happened – and it brought a smile to most faces in the room. Other than that one man who kept staring at me like he hated me. Whoever he was.
The night would continue to offer surprises. Chief among them was the stage presence of Du Blonde who, in her music and on her album covers, seems so brash and in your face. On stage she was nervous, apologising often, talking about her sore throat and how she didn’t think she could make the notes in her songs. This added a vulnerability to the performance which, in many ways, brought an extra level to set full of songs that are often dealing with mental health, isolation, and defiance in the face of these things.
You also wouldn’t have had any indication of this nervousness during the songs. We were treated to engaging performances throughout, with bigfatbig adding a real sense of dynamism to the set. Songs such as ‘Blame’, ‘Perfect’, and ‘Yesterday’ from the new album were all standout moments – and a special shout should go to ‘Solitary Individual’. It’s a powerful track about the love of one’s own company and not caring what anyone else says about that – it sums the artist up, and she performed it with extra relish.
Just after the halfway mark in the night, we had an acoustic break of two songs. It was at this point that Du Blonde most questioned whether she would be able to perform her songs following a recent chest infection. But if that was her performing while hindered, then she must be amazing when she is at full health. This part of the set showed a side of her that isn’t always apparent on her albums, a voice that could just as easily make country music. This was the highlight of the night.
But that didn’t take away from the end of the set, as the band came to make a cacophony of sound once more. As I watched the encore I felt that actually, this music was much more suited to the crumbling walls of this room than it would have been the freshly painted walls at Yes. I suppose that second taxi was worth it after all.
Words by Fran Slater
Picky Bastards 